I know an agent that works the rest of Houston and deals with investors mostly, she can be of some help if you are able to narrow things down a bit (age,bed,bath,demographic,hoa, strike price, exit if any...etc)Best of luck and hope to see you in town

I am not much of a rei meeting attendee, but when I do go I find it striking that most of the people their are trying to do the exact thing that you are doing, so in many cases you end up with a room full of networkers, meeting with networkers.One lesson that I would suggest is that when you do go to one, try to identify the key players by talking to other networkers there about what is what.

I always want to strike back and "hurt them in the pocket book" as they have done to me.

I am trying to strike a balance between due diligence and scaring people off with too much paperwork. 

Market technicians may argue the applicability on a failed cup/handle pattern on an index, but it's the symbolism that it conveys that strikes me.

Know your market, and know when to strike.  

Common sense tells you that if someone screws you once in this business then that's it 1 strike you're out especially when it concerns agents as a few don't follow ethical standards.

I don't want to strike up the conversation, then not be able to DO anything because my private lending is not in place yet, and I'm not sure I'd be comfortable assigning without "help".

Take whatever dollar amount you were going to spend on forming an LLC (fees, taxes, legal advice) and offer that to the county instead and see if they'll strike a deal.

If they're a commercial buyer who is looking to develop land in the area, then strike a deal with them.